Tag Archives: autumn

Ohio’s Beauty in the Fall – Lexie Wohler

Have you ever seen the colors of fall? The leaves changing to different colors are some of the most incredible things to see. There is nothing quite like taking a drive and seeing the colors blend beautifully together. Instead of seeing just green on the trees, you get to see bright red, orange and yellow. We often take the fall weather and the fall beauty for granted because we have lived here for so long.

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We don’t always see the beauty for what it is, until someone else mentions it to us. We often hear the comments of, “What a beautiful fall we are having”, and “it’s nice that we get to see the change of seasons unlike other places.”

Some of my family members come up to Ohio just to see what fall looks like for us. Many of my relatives don’t get to experience the serenity of fall because of where they live. They are in awe of the changing colors and the different atmosphere they feel when they come to Ohio in the fall.

Most of the time, the leaves start changing color in the middle to late September and they continue falling until after thanksgiving in November. When the leaves start dropping, you can see clear across the valley that we have in our backyard. The smell of fall is something very different, too. You can tell that fall has come when the air has a crisp clean sent to it and you feel the colder air in your lungs when you take deep breaths.

It is so refreshing to walk outside on a crisp clear day. It is one of the ways I enjoy fall. I take walks and photograph the changing colors of the leaves and the beauty all around me.  I hear the leaves crunching under your feet as you walk. Have you ever walked outside and smelled the air after a thunderstorm? Well multiply that clean smell by 10 times and add the rustling of the leaves all around you and you just know fall has come.

Sometimes the fall can be fairly warm for our Indian Summer as we call it, in the 60s and 70s. Whereas some other years, the temps can drop to the 50s pretty quickly. The temperatures are some of my favorite aspects about fall. They are often just perfect enough for me to break out some of my favorite sweatshirts and some of my favorite sweatpants. There is nothing like sitting around a warm campfire, drinking warm cider as the temperature drops to the 50s in the evening and into the night.

Some of the fun things you can do include going on nature hikes in some of the area’s finest Metroparks systems. The truth is, you never know what kind of animals you’ll see, from possums to beavers to deer and sometimes even wolves and coyotes. My family often jokes that we have the Disney movie Bambi, right in our backyard with all the woodland creatures around us.

Some other fun things to do include going camping and sitting by campfires and raking a huge pile of leaves just to jump in them and have them spread all over your yard. Fall gives you more wonder to gaze at than you ever thought possible.

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Come experience fall in Ohio if you’ve never been here before. You will not be disappointed.

As the catchphrase goes for Ohio, whatever you’re looking for, you can always find it here.

*Lexie is a repeat guest blogger for The Unsanity and you can find her bio and previous posts here.

#FreebieFriday – Fall Recipe Card

HAPPY ALMOST FALL!

With the first day of autumn being September 23rd this year, I thought you would all enjoy a new freebie this weekend of a recipe card! It’s a simple design, but oh so adorable to use. I mean, look at that little squirrel in the bottom left corner. I’ll add this to my Freebie Tab in my blog for you to download if you’d like to use it to keep all of your favorite fall recipes together and in order.

Enjoy!

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Favorite Fall Autumn Dishes – AdelineOnlineLife

Good afternoon bloggers and welcome to another Monday post with another guest. Adeline is a new friend of mine, and has an awesome blog that can be found here. If Instagram is your thing, you can also find her there at Adeline.A.Williams.

Reading everyone’s stories and advice tips for depression/anxiety and life stress so far has been a real eye opening experience for me. Learning more and more how to help others on MY end, has been amazing and I hope to continue learning more of your stories to share with the world. I thank each and every one of you for opening up to me and trusting me with whatever you are presenting.

Hello everyone!

I am Adeline, I am 24.

On my very first day of high school, I made it a few steps out our front door and turned around with tears in my eyes from the anxiety. At that time I didn’t know truly what was happening to me, why the thought of being in a sea of people frightened me. I was diagnosed with anxiety at 14. My heart does not take loss lightly, and in my second year of high school I lost my grandmother. I fell into a depression that continues to bubble to this day with the loss of both of my mother’s parents, my father, and his father.

Since those dark days I have learned to cope. Learned to focus on other parts of my life, like my pets, my blog, my boyfriend or my cooking.

Here are a few of my favorite recipes I make for fall/autumn.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

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Simple and easy to make recipe, super filling. Perfect on it’s own, or served with roasted vegetables. 

  • 1 lbs Ground Turkey
  • 1 lbs Ground Sweet Italian Sausage
  • 2 – 24 oz bottles of Francesco Rinaldi Tomato Garlic Onion Pasta Sauce
  • 1 1/2 tsp Ground Oregano
  • 1 tsp Tarragon
  • 1/2 tsp Ground Cardamon
  • 4 cloves of Garlic, crushed
  • 1 medium Onion, finely minced
  • 1/2 tsp Salt & Pepper
  • 1 cup of Rice, whichever you prefer. (I used long grain jasmine rice)
  • 4 large sized Bell Peppers, cored and rinsed
  • 2 metal bread pans

In a 2 to 3 quart sauce pan add the garlic, onion, and your preferred cooking oil to medium low heat. Stir occasionally to keep from burning. Cook till onion is soft and aromatic (around 5 minutes or so).  Then add oregano, tarragon, cardamon, salt, pepper and pasta sauce to the pan and bring to a medium heat. Stir continuously to keep ingredient from burn/sticking to the bottom of the pan. Cook for 7 minute or till sauce mixture is hot.

While sauce mixture is cooking. In a separate pan or rice cooker, add rice and 2 cups of water. Cook rice per the instructions on the packaging. Once sauce mixture and rice is done set aside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (or 190 degrees C).

In a skillet add sweet Italian sausage, ground turkey, and 1 1/2 cup of sauce mixture, mix together either with your hands (using cooking gloves) or with a spatula. Once mixed together, bring to medium high heat. Stir occasionally to keep from burning. Cook for 12 minutes, drain any excess oil. Once done, in metal bread pans add meat to bottom of pan (to keep peppers sitting up). Stuff each pepper with meat, leaving a small gap at the top for sauce. Once all pepper are stuffed and in pans take any leftover meat and distribute between the two pans. Then take sauce mixture and cover peppers and meat liberally with sauce mixture. Cover with aluminum foil. Put in preheated oven and cook for 25 to 35 minutes till peppers are cooked and meat is at food safe temperature 165 degrees F (or 70 degrees C).

Lemongrass Chicken with Rice

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This is such a yummy dish, you can substitute the rice with whatever grain you prefer.  

  • 4 Skinless Boneless Chicken thighs
  • 3 tbsp Ground Lemongrass
  • 4 cloves of Garlic, crushed
  • 2 tbsp low sodium Soy Sauce
  • 1 Lime or small Lemon, juiced
  • 3 tbsp honey or agave
  • 1 cup of Rice
  • 1/2 tsp Salt & Pepper

In a large bowl add lemongrass, garlic, soy sauce, lime/lemon juice, honey/agave salt and pepper mix together with fork or whisk. Once mixed together add chicken thighs and stir till all pieces are covered. Cover and marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour or over night.

Heat a large oiled skillet at medium high heat, add marinated chicken, save marinate for later. Cook chicken for 30 minutes, till chicken is at food safe temperature 165 degrees F (or 70 degrees C). Turn chicken over occasionally while cooking to keep from burning. Add marinade to pan and cook for 2 to 3 minutes while stirring chicken to keep from burning.

In a separate pan or rice cooker, add rice and 2 cups of water. Cook rice per the instructions on the packaging. Serve chicken while warm with rice.

Turon – Fried Banana Lumpia

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These are a household favorite, they never last the day. Serve it with a side of ice cream for extra yummy goodness!

  • 5 Bananas or 4 large Plantains
  • 1 can of Jackfruit, drained
  • 1 to 2 cups Brown Sugar
  • 2 packages of Nasayo Egg Roll Wraps
  • Vegetable oil
  • 1 cup of Water

Cover plate with brown sugar, set aside. Peel bananas/plantains, cut in half lengthwise (or thirds if using plantains.) Cut drained jackfruit into strips.

Roll banana/plantain slice in brown sugar, covering completely. Place banana/plantain slice onto wrapper corner closest to you. Add strip of jackfruit along the length of the banana. Fold both sides (left and right) of the wrapper inward towards the banana. Now roll it towards the other end away from you. Use water to seal the edge.

Heat vegetable oil in frying pan or deep fryer (do not use an air fryer) to medium low heat. Place a few piece of wrapped bananas/plantains in frying pan or deep fryer. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes till golden brown. Place on plate or cookie sheet once cooked. Do not use paper towel to drain, these get super sticky. Serve while warm.

I hope you enjoy these recipes, let us know which were your favorite!

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Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies – Gabriela

Good Morning friends!

Monday means guest blogger time! Thankful to have this chicka on here to share this awesome recipe with us on vegan pumpkin cookies! You can find her personal Instagram here and her Toki Box Instagram here

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Hi everyone! Nice to meet you!

I’m Gabriela – vegan + baker + proud owner of a new subscription box – TokiBox (which I created back in May this year.)

My box is all about healthy vegan goodies like superfoods, healthy snacks and eco-friendly accessories.

I became vegan a few years ago after watching a documentary about animal cruelty and I’ve been vegan since then. I don’t think I could ever eat animal products again, that’s why I created my box. A place where you can get healthy snacks and superfoods that nourish your body and gives you energy and happiness. Because it is true that you are what you eat.

I have started cooking and baking around the same time of becoming vegan – because I was discovering a new world filled with foods I never tried. I grew up a small village in Romania – so there were some of the fruits, vegetables and pantry items I’ve never seen.

Now I cook because it makes me relax, distress and create amazing stuff! It has become on of my hobbies.

When I don’t work at my box (being an online business is sometimes a 24hr job) I enjoy taking photos in nature, running and doing yoga J. I love photography and the outdoors.

I’m super happy to do write for this blog and I want to thank to Koral for the opportunity to connect with each one of you and share one of my favorite recipes.

If you’d like to check out my box head over to our website: http://tokibox.co

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I’m happy to introduce you to one of my favorite fall recipes, perfect for the holidays and fall season.

These cookies are a healthier version of the traditional chocolate chip cookies that I love to recreate in the fall – winter season, because makes me feel so cozy and happy!

Ah, and I have to mention that it has one of my old time favorite ingredients: PUMPKIN.

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Because, ‘tis the season of pumpkins.

Cookies are my favorite dessert and I enjoy decorating them with all sorts of stuff and serving them with
“weird” combinations like peanut butter and nut milk or plum jam and almond butter!

I love baking them as well because they are easy and fast to make, plus everyone in the family loves them!

I have tried tons of cookie recipes since going vegan, but I personally fell in love with this one and I hope you do to!

This recipe is healthy, with no dairy or butter and with delicious vegan chocolate chips-it can be optional in case  you’re going for a healthier treat, and it is under 30 minutes.

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Time: under 30 min

Makes 20 cookies

THE INGREDIENTS:

  • 1, 1 ¾ cups of flour (either regular or gluten free)
  • 1, ½ tsp of baking powder
  • ½ cup pumpkin puree
  • ¾ cup maple syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • ¾ cup of tahini (or any nut butter of your choice)
  • Vegan chocolate chips (measurement depends on your taste).

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THE PROCESS:

  • Preheat the oven at 350 and oil a baking tray with coconut oil.
  • Mix the flour with baking powder and set aside.
  • Mix in the wet ingredients: pumpkin puree, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, maple syrup and tahini.
  • Combine them together using a spatula and then mix it with your hand (like a dough).
  • After mixing it well, stir in the chocolate chips (my husband likes a lot of them so I put in ½ cup).
  • Start shaping the dough into small 2 inch balls using your hand.
  • Put all the balls into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes.
*you can use any kind of flour or even oats 
*chocolate chips are optional – for an even healthier recipe, you don’t have to use them.

These cookies are going to come out super fluffy and not oily. I like serving them with a glass of non-dairy milk. For this photo I used pea milk from Ripple, but you can use any kind of milk you want and toppings! Go crazy with them!

This is a super healthy cookie recipe you can make ahead of time and snack on throughout the week. It is filled with protein and vitamins from the tahini and pumpkin. Eat food that nourishes your body.

Hope you try out the recipe and let us know how it turns out!

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PS: here’s a coupon code in case you’d like to try out my healthy vegan goodie box: KORAL5 for $5 off on your first box!

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Welcome October!

Hello and good afternoon everyone!

It’s Sunday, and a brisk Sunday here in Olympia, Washington at that! It’s finally starting to look and feel like fall here… trees are changing and everything is dying around us – don’t worry, nature mostly. I have candles burning on the mantle (which I still need to clean off.. oops) and it smells like a bakery in here! This is my new favorite candle that my mom sent me for my birthday 2 weeks ago now. It’s a wood wick, and it crackles as it burns like a nice warm fire place in fall.

Bakery Candle

I’m in the midst of rebranding and relaunching my blog here during October. So exciting! It’s going to be more writing on my part but it’s also going to encompass YOU. I have a select few guest bloggers writing for my page, and you’ll see those at least once a week, until (ready for it?) the end of 2018 and potentially into January 2019! Don’t worry, you’ll still get blogs from me in the meantime obviously, but my guests hold a special place in my heart in the relaunching of my blog. I’m going to focus on anything from mental health/anxiety to photography, art, cooking/baking and everything in between. That’s right – a life blog and more.

I’ll also be throwing in some blogging tips like this first one I created for you to follow and possibly help you create better understanding content for not only your current readers, but for new potential readers in the future:

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I can’t wait to get started and share my guests with you!

My first one is coming from Marvelously Miranda – who’s also a fellow WordPress.com blogger! After being diagnosed with an anxiety disorder at the age of 20, Miranda shares 5 things she’s learned since her diagnosis with us. She enjoys advocating for the vulnerable, writing to encourage others, and spending time with her dog Brody. She is also a licensed social worker with 2 years experience in the mental health area.

Look for her post coming this first week in October, and let’s give her a warm welcome as my first guest blogger on my almost ready relaunch!

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I Am The Wind

“When you’re dumb enough for long enough, you’re gonna meet someone too smart to love you, and they’re gonna love you anyway, and it’s gonna go so poorly.” – Neil Hilborn, Ballad of the Bruised Lung

Been awhile, life’s been crazy. I’ve been trying to find the time to keep writing but I just haven’t had any. I mean I have, but I’ve had no ideas really to make me want to write anything substantial in my opinion. It’s been a blur to be honest, I can’t believe a year has almost gone by since myself and guy started dating again.. and it makes me feel semi good, that I can make it better than the last time we dated since we both effed up the last time and several times after that. Seems like we can’t just get it right.. Maybe this time won’t be so bad… here’s to hoping!

I’ve taken some photos recently, with guy’s other camera the Sony a6000 and I like it. But I only like it with the 90mm Macro since it’s amazing. I kind of want it. But there’s no way I can afford the lenses for it. Yes, I can borrow his, but what’s that going to do for me should something happen with myself and him. I will never give up my Canon camera for something else. I would only add to it. I plan on trying to start a collection of some sorts and when I finally get a home, I will have a camera closet for all my things.

Here are a few shots of the Sony a6000 that I took just yesterday around Nanticoke, PA. 

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When you’re tired of waiting and time is not on your side
When you’re tired of hating me, you no longer want to hide

It’s time for another session of relaxation and tea bath before my roommates get home and take their long shower. I’ve been thankful enough to get to take some nice showers lately thankfully, and it’s helping my mood a lot surprisingly. *hand clap* Off I go because then I’m going to sleep forever tonight, maybe I’ll put my hair in curlers again. We’ll see since it seems to poof then I use them, lol!

Cheers,

xoxox